Tie down rope

ABSTRACT

TENSION IN A TIE DOWN MODE AND THEREBY ALLOW THE ROPE TO SLIDE BACK THROUGH THE SLEEVE.   A TIE DOWN DEVICE WHICH INCLUDES AN ELONGATED BRAIDED ROPE HAVING A FIRST CONNECTING END AND AN OPPOSITE END PASSED THROUGH SPACED STRANDS OF SAID ROPE FORMING A SLEEVE THEREIN PROXIMATE A MID-PORTION OF SAID ROPE THEREBY FORMING A LOOP ON ONE SIDE OF SAID SLEEVE, AND RELEASE MEANS SECURED TO THE MID-PORTION OF SAID ROPE PROXIMATE THE ONE SIDE OF THE SLEEVE FOR REMOVING LOCKING PRESSURE APPLIED TO THE ROPE BY THE SLEEVE WHEN THE ROPE IS UNDER

March 6, 1973 P. w. HUBER TIE DOWN ROPE- Filed May 21. 1971 INVENTOR. Paul W. Huber 6% His A Horney FIG. 3

7 FIG.

United States Patent 3,718,947 TIE DOWN ROPE Paul W. Huber, 5440 Woodcrest Drive, Salt Lake City, Utah 84117 Filed May 21, 1971, Ser. No. 145,709 Int. Cl. A441) 21/00 U.S. CI. 24-73 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Over the years most people at one time or another have had the occasion to tie down various items to a rigid support member such as a trailer, truck bed, vehicle carrying rack, or the like, to be transported thereon. Generally, the items to be secured are tied to the support member with a relatively long rope or the like which is passed over and aroundthe item and then securely tied to the support member. While such established tie down methods are generally effective for their intended purpose they are generally time consuming and it is essential that the tie down rope be carefully secured to the support member so that it does not become undone as pressure is applied to the items to be secured. To facilitate the tie down procedure various tie down ropes and straps have been devised. Examples of such tie down devices are described in the following US. Pats., to wit: No. 2,455,237, No. 2,540,888, No. 2,715,008, No. 2,809,008, No. 2,983,413, No. 3,388,886 and No. 3,416,762 all of which disclose devices which require the use of either buckles or other specially designed locking structures for securing the devices in a taut support position. Accordingly, a great need has arisen for a tie down device that can, be easily shortened and locked in a tie down mode and thereafter lengthened for release without requiring the use of specially designed locking buckles, clamps, or the like.

It is the principal objective of this invention to provide a tie down rope capable of having its effective length shortened for tie down purposes.

It is a further objective of the invention to provide a tie down rope which is securely held in a tie down mode until it is desired to lengthen the effective length of the rope.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A tie down device which comprises an elongated braided rope having a first connecting end and an opposite end which is passed through spaced strands of said rope which form a sleeve therein proximate a mid-portion of said rope to thereby form a rope loop on one side of said sleeve; and release means secured to said mid-portion of said rope and proximate said one side of said sleeve for urging said sleeve to a release position.

In another embodiment of the invention first connecting means are secured to said first end of said rope and second connecting means are slidably secured to said loop.

In still another embodiment of the invention, the rope is formed from a plurality of elongated braided plastic strands.

3,718,947 Patented Mar. 6, 1973 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS So that the invention may be more readily understood and carried into effect, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which are offered by Way of example only and are not to be taken as limiting the invention, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims which obviously embrace equivalent structures.

FIG. 1 is a plan elevation view of the preferred tie down rope of the invention fitted with connecting hooks.

FIG. 2 is a plan elevation view of the retaining sleeve portion of the rope used to secure the rope for tie down purposes.

FIG. 3 is a plan elevation view of a connecting hook with a segment of the tie down rope secured thereto.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the tie down device of the invention is shown in FIG. 1. As illustrated, the device is constructed from an elongated rope 10 preferably about to /2 inch in diameter, which is formed from a plurality of strands of conventional rope forming material, at least a portion of which are braided or otherwise woven together. Preferably, the rope strands are formed from a synthetic resin such as the resins sold under the trademark, nylon, Mylar, etc. The braided strands along a midportion of rope 10 are separated apart from each other so that a sleeve 12 about 1 to 4 inches in length and sized to receive rope 10 is formed therein. Accordingly, when rope end 20 is passed through sleeve 12 a closed loop 14 is formed adjacent to the side 16 of said sleeve. A loop 18 having a fixed size is preferably secured to rope end 20 to prevent said end from slipping back through sleeve 12 and further act as a handle to aid in pulling the rope through sleeve 12 thereby decreasing the size of loop 12 and shortening the effective length of rope 10 for tie down purposes.

Release rope 22 is secured to rope 10 proximate end 16 of sleeve 12 for the purpose of removing locking tension from sleeve 12 when the tie down rope of the invention is in a tie down mode so that rope 10 will pass back through sleeve 12 as will be hereinafter described in detail. A loop 24, similar to loop 18, is preferably positioned proximate the end 26 of release rope 22 to aid in pulling said rope 22. It is to be noted that loops 24 and 18 can be formed in a conventional fashion by securing the ends of ropes 10 and 22 to a mid-portion of said ropes, and this is preferred.

Finally, an attaching book 28 is tied to end 30 of rope 10 in a conventional fashion and a similar attaching hook 30 is slidably secured to loop 14. The hooks 28 and 30 are preferably formed from a relatively rigid metal to prevent them from being easily deformed when substantial tension are applied thereto. The attaching books 28 and 30 are most preferably shaped in the fashion illus trated in FIG. 3.

In using the tie down device of the invention attaching hooks 28 and 30 are secured to a rigid support member and rope 10 positioned between hooks 28 and 30 is passed over the item to be secured to the support member. Thereafter loop 18 is pulled to urge rope 10 to slide through sleeve 12 wherein the effective length of the tie down rope is shortened until the portion of the rope between books 28 and 30 is taut. When this occurs, because of the tension applied to sleeve 12 said sleeve acts as a locking mechanism and prevents rope 10 from sliding back through the sleeve. In this fashion the rope is maintained taut even when very substantial tension is applied thereto. When it is desired to loosen sleeve 12 so that rope 10 can slide back therethrough, loop 24 is pulled which applies a reverse force to sleeve 12 with rope 22 and the locking pressure applied by the sleeve to rope 10 is removed and said rope slides back through the sleeve to a loose position.

I claim:

1. A tie down device which comprises an elongated braided rope having a connecting end and an opposite end passed through spaced strands of said rope which form a sleeve in said rope proximate a mid-portion thereof thereby forming a loop in said rope which extends away from one side of said sleeve; and release means secured to said mid-portion of said rope proximate said one side of said sleeve for urging said sleeve to a release position.

2. The tie down device of claim 1 wherein said release means comprises a second rope connected to said elongated braided rope.

3. The tie down device of claim 2 wherein attaching means are slidably mounted on the portion of said elongated braided rope which forms said loop.

4. The tie down device of claim 3 wherein said attaching means comprises a first metal hook.

5. The tie down device of claim 4 wherein a second metal hook is secured to said first connecting end of said elongated braided rope.

6. The tie down device of claim 2 wherein said elongated braided rope is formed from a plurality of elongated plastic strands.

7. The tie down device of claim 2 wherein hand hold loops are secured to said opposite end of said elongated braided rope and to the end of said second rope opposite the end of said'second 'ropeconnected to said elongated braided rope.

8. The tie down device of claim 7 wherein said elongated braided rope is formed from a plurality of elongated plastic strands.

9. The tie down device of claim 8 wherein attaching means are slidably mounted on the portion of said elongated braided rope which forms said loop.

10. The tie down device of claim 9 wherein said attaching means comprises a first metal hook.

11. The tie down device of claim 10 wherein a second metal hook is secured to said first connecting'end of said elongated braided rope.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,455,237 11/1948 Davis 248361 A "2,696,360 12/1954 Toffolon 248361 A 2,908,522 10/ 1959 Glave 292-28-8 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,484,871 5/1967 France 24-l6 R DONALD A. GRIFFIN, Primary Examiner US. or. X.R. 

